


Jeepers Creepers 3; The Curse

by DragonStar84



Category: Jeepers Creepers (2001), Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
Genre: F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-01-06 08:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12207327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonStar84/pseuds/DragonStar84
Summary: A simple school report about the Creeper turns into a nightmare when the Creeper wakes up and returns to the old Church finds Maggie there and takes her captive.





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe I got dragged into this," Maggie said as she absently twisted a lock of her long brown hair around her finger and looked out the window of the truck at the seemingly endless fields of corn.

"I thought you were specializing in legendary and mythical creatures because you liked looking for monsters," Rob said glancing at her for a moment before looking back at the road.

"I do, Bigfoot, lake monsters, something like that, not some monster story that has little or no recorded history until twenty three years ago. I mean they've done DNA tests on the thing and each one came back different, like it was from completely different sources. Plus if this thing was a real creature there should have been old Native American legends about it, even if it did only come out every twenty three years there would still be Native legends about it, if it were real," Maggie told him.

"Maybe it migrated here around the time the area was settled by white people and the variations in DNA could be because it was constantly replacing parts of its body with human parts," Rob suggested.

"And maybe it's just a story someone made up to explain a serial killer who was never caught and then some farmer thought he would make some money off of gullible people with a fake monster in his barn."

"I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves," Rob said as they pulled up a driveway to the barn the monster was supposed to be kept in.

"Sure, whatever, let's just get this over with," Maggie said as she got out of the truck.

"You here to see the monster?" a man asked as he walked out to meet them.

"Yes, I'm Maggie Zimmerman and this is Rob Kevinson. We're from the local collage and were assigned to do a report on the monster you have in your barn," Maggie explained.

"If you want to take a picture it'll be an extra ten dollars," the man said, eyeing her camera bag.

"That's crazy," Maggie said.

"That's the way it is, if you don't like it you can leave now," the man told her.

"We have to have a picture to go with our report Maggie, we can split the cost and it'll only be five each," Rob said.

"We're still paying twenty bucks to see something that's probably a fake," Maggie replied under her breath so the man wouldn't hear her, as she pulled a ten out of her camera bag and handed it to the man.

The man showed them to the barn door and let them inside.

When Maggie realized the man hadn't followed them into the barn she asked, "What exactly is this supposed to be? That mummified mermaid that was made from a fish and monkey skeleton was put together better than this thing is."

"That's because this thing is real and doesn't need to be put together so you can't tell how it ended up here."

Maggie and Rob jumped and turned around to see an old man sitting behind them.

"Are you the one who caught this thing?" Rob asked.

"Yeah, after it carried off my son I hunted it down and made it pay," the old man told them.

"What exactly is it? Other than ugly," Maggie asked.

"Evil, that's all I'm sure of, might be some type of demon, that's what most people think," the man said.

"Could you tell us how you caught it?" Rob asked.

"I had some help, I shot it a couple times with this," the man said patting a large device that looked like it would shoot a large harpoon, "After that it was chasing a couple of kids, they were in a truck and the kid driving it waited for the thing to get up real close, then he hit the brakes, the monster went through the cab of the truck, that's how he ended up in pieces. When I got to him I stabbed the thing until it stopped moving," he told them.

"I thought I read somewhere that it couldn't be killed," Maggie said.

"That's why I'm here, if it is still alive it'll be waking up any day now and I'll be ready for it," he told them.

"Well we'll check back in a couple of days to see what happens, it might actually make this report interesting if it did come back to life," Maggie said as she took a picture then headed out of the barn.

"Couldn't you at least act like you believed the thing was real?" Rob asked as they got back into the truck.

"Look, I'm the cryptozoologist here, I'm the one who's supposed to be telling people to believe in crazy things, but that thing looks fake and just doesn't make sense to me. Can we just get to that old church, get a few pictures and get home?" Maggie asked.

"Alright," Rob agreed as he pulled out. 


	2. Chapter 2

Half an hour later they pulled up in front of an old, partially burned church.

"So, this is where all those bodies were found twenty three years ago?" Maggie asked, a chill running down her spine as she looked up at the remains of the church and remembered the stories she had heard about the bodies that had been found in the basement.

"Yep, hundreds of bodies hung all over the walls of the basement, according to the reports," Rob replied.

"Well let's go see if the police missed any bodies," Maggie said as she started to walk towards the church.

"Are you crazy? People were murdered in there, it could be haunted, not to mention the whole place could fall on top of you," Rob said as he hesitantly followed her.

"It’s survived twenty three years after being burned, if the whole place were going to come down I think it would have done that during a storm by now. Unless a board falls at just the right angle that the sharp end would hit us we should be fine. The main support beams don't look like they're burned or rotted too badly," Maggie told him after looking in one of the windows then she headed for the door, "And if there are ghosts maybe they would be willing to tell us whether they were murdered by that monster or a serial killer," Maggie added as she slowly pushed the front doors of the church open, ready to jump back at any second if anything started falling.

"See nothing to worry about," Maggie said testing the strength of the floor boards with one foot with each stepped farther into the church.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Rob asked, still standing outside the door.

"Its fine, now get in here and find something to make me believe that, that thing we saw was real and not just something that guy made," Maggie said.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Rob said slowly stepping into the church.

"I'm going to get some pictures up here, why don't you go see if you can find a way to get into the basement," Maggie suggested.

"Why do I have to do the scary job?" Rob complained.

"Because, you're the one who volunteered to research this thing without even asking me. I mean Champ and Yeren were still available to do reports on, but you had to volunteer to do the Creeper instead," Maggie replied.

"Well it's not my fault we got stuck as partners for this project," Rob shot back.

"Just go find a way into the basement," Maggie said before turning and ignoring Rob's complaining as she looked around the church and took a few pictures.

"Hay Maggie I think I found a way down," Rob said, having snuck back into the room before saying anything, startling Maggie and making her almost drop her camera.

"Well lets go have a look so we can get this report done with," Maggie said as she walked over to Rob and he led her to a door with a long set of stairs on the other side.

"Do we really have to go down there?" Rob asked nervously.

"What are you afraid the boogieman's going to get you or are you just afraid of the dark?" Maggie asked as she turned on her flashlight, brushed some cobwebs away and headed down the stairs.

As Maggie stepped off the bottom step she screamed and dropped her flashlight.

Rob screamed, then started franticly calling, "Maggie, Maggie? What happened? Where are you? Oh please don't be dead. Maggie!" he yelled franticly.

Finally unable to keep herself from laughing Maggie stepped into the beam of his flashlight. "You know you scream like a girl when you're scared," Maggie told him as she tried to stop laughing.

"That's not funny," Rob said as he slowly walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Maybe not to the person being scared, but I thought it was great," Maggie replied as she walked farther into the basement. A chill ran down her spine as she looked up at the domed ceiling and could see the faded markings from where the police had marked where each body had been before they had removed them.

After looking around for a while and not finding anything interesting Maggie left Rob to keep looking around the main room and she walked into a room that looked like it was actually under the church and not out in front of it like the other room was. The room had a wooden ceiling, walls, and floor and was as empty as the rest of the place had been. As she turned to leave her foot caught on a loose board and she fell, landing hard against the wall which caved in when she fell into it. As she started to get up she noticed it looked like there was an opening behind the wall. Kneeling in front of it she pulled a few of the loose boards away to reveal a large wooden crate hidden behind the wall.

"Hey, Rob I think I found something!" she called as she pulled the crate out.

"What is it? Did you find a body?" Rob asked as he ran into the room.

"No, it looks like a bunch of old newspaper clippings and church records," Maggie told him as she carefully flipped through the papers in the crate, "Look at this, the newspapers are from twenty three years ago and go clear back to the early eighteen hundreds," Maggie said as she dug deeper into the crate.

"Why don't we take them with us and look at them when we're safe at home? It's getting late and I don't want to be here when it gets dark out," Rob said.

"You are such a wimp," Maggie told him as she carefully put the papers back into the crate, "I found them so I'll take them home with me first. Plus I know more about handling antique paper than you do, I'll show you if I find anything interesting," Maggie told him as she picked up the crate and they headed back out to the truck.

"As long as we can get out of here, I don't care who gets to keep them," Rob replied.

After Rob had dropped Maggie off at her apartment and she had grabbed some dinner she started looking through the papers. Most of them were newspaper articles about people who had disappeared, a chill ran down her spine as she realized they had all disappeared in the same twenty three day period every twenty three years. The only ones that were different were the oldest few that told about twenty three people who had been hung after being accused of being witches and demons disguising themselves as humans. The youngest girl had only been two years old and the only members of the family to escape had been a man named William, a woman named Charity and her three children. As Maggie looked through the church records she found that they mentioned the hangings and twenty three murders that happened less than two weeks after the hangings.

Maggie jumped when the phone suddenly rang, "Hello," she said as she balanced the phone on her shoulder so she could check the paper she had been holding to make sure it hadn't torn when she jumped.

"Maggie, I think there's something in here with me," Rob whispered franticly from the other end.

"There's something with you where?" Maggie asked, still more concerned about the old papers than whatever nightmare had scared Rob enough for him to call her at one in the morning.

"I'm at the old church and I can hear something moving around," he whispered.

"What are you doing back at the church?" Maggie asked, finally giving him her full attention.

"When you yelled to me about that box you found I jumped and my cell phone fell out of my pocket, I meant to go back and get it but I forgot until after I had dropped you off. I came back just long enough to grab it but when I got in here I thought I heard something, I've been hiding from it ever since and just found my phone."

"Alright, just stay calm, I'm coming out there, have you called the police?" Maggie asked.

"No, I was too scared to think, I just hit redial on the phone," Rob told her.

"Okay, call the police, I'm on my way. Oh and stay hidden," Maggie told him.

"Why? I thought you didn't believe in the monster," Rob asked nervously.

"I don't know about the monster, but what I found in those papers makes me think there might be some truth to the stories, just call the police and stay quiet," Maggie told him then hung up, threw on her shoes, grabbed a hatchet and her keys and ran out to her car.


	3. Chapter 3

As Maggie stepped out of her car at the old church she heard Rob screaming then everything suddenly went silent. Knowing that his life could depend on her she pushed aside her fear and ran into the church then as silently as possible she made her way to the basement. She hesitantly peeked into a room that had been lit by candles. Maggie froze with fear and horror as she saw the same monster they had seen earlier that day kneeling next to Rob's body and snapping one of his legs off then eating it. Rob's head and right arm were missing and from the look of the monster’s healed head and arm he had already eaten them.

Maggie watched, frozen with horror as the creature continued to eat her classmate. Her stomach churned as she watched the monster peal the skin off of Rob's chest and eat it then pull out several of his organs and gulped them down. It wasn't until she heard distant sirens that she was finally shaken from her. Taking one last glance at what little was left of Rob she turned and as quickly and quietly as possible started back up the stairs.

She had just gotten to the door of the church when a hand suddenly grabbed her and spun her around. Maggie screamed when she came face to face with the monster, Rob's blood running down its chin. He had put on pants, a long coat and a wide brimmed hat on, that from a distance would have made him look human, but up close they couldn't hide how terrifying he really was.

Maggie grabbed the hatchet from her belt and swung it at the monster’s head, but it caught her arm with one of its blood covered hands. It used the other to wrench the hatchet out of her hand and tossed it across the room. Maggie struggled, trying to get away from the creature, but it simply grabbed her by the throat and pressed her back against the wall and started sniffing her, a strange third nostril opening on the top of its nose as it did. It continued sniffing her for a moment until it became obvious the police cars, with their sirens still on had pulled up to the church.

For a moment Maggie thought she might have a chance to escape, until he pulled her with him towards the back of the church. She struggled, trying to pull away while hitting his arm with her free fist, but quickly realized he was too strong, so reluctantly she let him lead her out the back of the church. As they stepped out a man yelled "freeze or I'll shoot" the monster smiled at her, revealing long pointed teeth for a moment before turning around and holding her in front of him as a human shield for a second before suddenly tearing his wings through his coat, he shot straight up into the air, taking Maggie with him.

Maggie gasped and struggled to turn so she could hold on to him, although for a moment she wondered if falling to her death would be less painful than whatever the monster had planned for her, but as long as she was alive she could still try to escape, if she fell there would be no escaping.

All of a sudden the creature let go of her, she tried to grab onto its hand as it let her go, but the slick blood on his hand made it impossible to hold onto and she fell. She didn't scream, even if someone did hear her there was nothing they could do to help her. She just closed her eyes and spread her arms, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing past her as she waited to hit the ground. She heard what sounded like wings flap and opened her eyes to see the monster with its wings folded and falling next to her and watching her. A second later and only about ten feet from the ground it grabbed her then shot back up into the sky.

The creature held her against its chest with one arm wrapped around her back and the other under her knees. Maggie cringed slightly at the feeling of the monster’s rough bumpy skin that she could feel even through the coat it was wearing. Eventually, after flying for what seemed like forever Maggie started to doze off, too exhausted from the events of the night to stay awake any longer.


	4. Chapter 4

Maggie woke up slowly, wondering how early it was if she had woken up before her alarm clock went off. When she finally forced her eyes open she nearly screamed when she saw the monster sleeping next to her and everything that had happened the night before came rushing back to her. As carefully as possible Maggie slipped out of the bed and towards a door, praying that it wouldn't creak when she opened it and that it would be a way out. As she carefully moved towards the door she glanced around the room and was amazed. For the home of such a horrible monster, the room was amazing, the ceiling and walls made it obvious it was inside of some type of cave, but on the floor were couple of rugs and beautifully carved furniture lined the walls. Dressers with vines and flowers carved up the sides, painted portraits sitting on top of many of them, mirrors with carvings of dragons or flowers carved around them, rocking chairs and small tables, a long table and chairs. Even the huge four poster bed was beautifully carved with two dragons, one with its wing wrapped over the other, sleeping in front of a mountain lake on the headboard, roses were carved up each of the posts. In one corner were several glass fronted display cases with a variety of jewelry, watches, knifes, guns, swords and a number of other things that looked like they had to be over two hundred years old. One large glass case contained two mannequins, on one was a Revolutionary war soldier’s uniform and on the other was a beautiful hide dress with intricate quill and bead work. All in all the room looked more like a storage room for a museum than a bedroom. As Maggie carefully opened the door she was disappointed to find it only led to a bathroom. The bathroom itself was impressive with a sink, toilet and huge bathtub, all carved out of the rock along with a smaller tub, with a bucket next to it, that was filled with fresh clear water that looked like it came up from a spring.

Maggie quietly shut the door then scooped up a bucket of water and started washing the dried blood off of her from where the monster had grabbed her with its bloody hands. Once she had gotten off as much as possible she silently snuck back out of the bathroom and headed to another door in the room. Luckily it opened silently and she stepped into a large cave like room, as she looked up she gasped and nearly stumbled back into the door. There were bodies hanging from the ceiling, she began to count them and found that there were sixteen men, five women and two young men who looked like they were still in their teens. "Twenty three of them," Maggie quietly said to herself wondering why that number seemed to constantly tie in with the Creeper.

"Yes, twenty three, one for each year that I sleep, each day that I suffer and each member of my family they murdered," a gravelly voice said from behind Maggie.

Maggie spun around and took several steps back when she saw the monster standing behind her. It still wore pants, but had taken off the coat and hat it had had on the night before, its wings loosely folded at its back. Maggie was terrified, but she decided it was probably going to kill her anyways and even if it could smell her fear, she wouldn't give it the satisfaction of seeing her fear. She wouldn't cry or beg for her life, she had read enough to know it wouldn't do her any good anyways.

Maggie took a deep breath to calm her nerves, "Why haven't you killed me yet? Were you just waiting until I was awake so you can listen to me scream as you rip me apart like you did to Rob?" she demanded somehow managing to keep the fear out of her voice.

The creature looked at her for a second, looking almost confused then stepped closer and started sniffing her for a moment.

Maggie shuddered as the creature leaned close to her and the strange third nostril on the top of its nose flared open as it sniffed her. She desperately wanted to pull away from the thing, but made herself hold still until it stopped sniffing her and stepped back to look at her a second longer, "You’re not a bad actress,” he said, “If I was going to kill you I would have done it already."

"Then what do you want, why did you bring me here?" Maggie asked suddenly terrified and trying to remember just how human the thing had been when she had seen it tied up in the barn.

He stepped closer to her, sniffing her again, "Interesting, most would fear death more than being raped, but I suppose being a virgin would make the thought more terrifying," the monster said.

"How do you know I'm a virgin?" Maggie asked shocked and even more terrified.

"I can sense it and smell it, I knew it the moment you came down to the Church basement," he told her.

"You knew I was there the whole time?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," he replied simply as he walked over to a bucket and dipped a glass into it then drank the whole glass of water in seconds.

"Why didn't you attack me then?" Maggie asked.

"I was in no shape to be chasing after a healthy human when I already had one that had walked right into my home when I desperately needed a meal," he told her.

"If you aren't going to eat me why did you bring me here?" Maggie asked again strugaling to keep the fear out of her voice.

"I assure you I will not harm you in anyway, I thought it would be nice to have someone around to talk to, although after twenty-three years, my throat is still rather dried out and this is starting to bother my throat, so if you don't need anything else please just let me rest my throat a while before you ask any more questions," he said.

"Just one more question, do you have a name?" Maggie asked.

"It's William," he replied before disappearing back into the bedroom.


	5. Chapter 5

 

Maggie spent the next hour trying to keep herself distracted from worrying about what would happen to her by looking around the cave and trying to find a way out. She was amazed by all the beautifully carved furniture; it was all carved with amazingly detailed images. The older looking pieces including a table and chairs, a few old wooden chests and a couple of other chairs that were decorated with detailed carvings of dragons. The somewhat newer looking table, chair and a large number of tools that were lying on the table were carved with images of screaming people and what looked like images of William. Maggie couldn't help smiling as she thought about his name; it seemed like such a human name for such a terrifying monster.

"Unless he hasn't always been a monster," Maggie thought suddenly remembering the only surviving member of the family in the newspaper articles had been named William and the newspaper had said twenty three people had been given the privilege of pulling the levers when the family had been hung. The newspaper had listed the names and ages of the people and if she remembered correctly it had been, sixteen men, five women and two young men who were fifteen and seventeen. Maggie looked up at the ceiling counting the bodies again, unable to believe what she knew had to be true or the fact that it would mean William had to be over two hundred years old.

Finally pulling her eyes from the bodies on the ceiling Maggie walked over to another door that was open about two inches and pushed it open. Inside she found more beautifully carved furniture and dozens of book cases filled with books, on a table in the center of the room was a large old Bible. Maggie carefully opened it and found the pages that listed the family. On the page for deaths twenty three had been written in who had all died on the same day and on a loose piece of paper was a list of each family member and the name of the person who had hung them. Each name was crossed out with what looked like a smear of dried blood. Carefully closing the Bible Maggie looked up at the walls and took a step back when she realized there were more bodies hanging on the wall, although there were only three, two men and a woman. All three had been skinned and their skins stretched out over a piece of wood that hung on the wall. They were full of holes and had a few knives and darts stuck into them. Maggie couldn't help smiling as she was reminded of the times she had used a picture of her father to practice her aim with her cross bow; whoever these three were William must have absolutely hated them.

"You are the only human I've ever seen smile at my work, are you alright?" William asked as he walked into the room.

Maggie jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to face him, "It just reminds me of when I use to shoot pictures of my father with a cross bow, after he told my mom kids no longer fit in with his life style and never contacted us again," Maggie explained, "So who are they?" she asked nervously watching William as he walked farther into the room.

"The judge who sentenced my family to be hung, the witch who cursed me to this existence and the priest who approved of my family's murders and the use of the witch to curse me," William told her.

Maggie hesitated a moment, but finally decided if she was going to be trapped there she might as well learn what she could about the creature, "What really happened? I've read the newspaper articles that say your family was accused of witch craft, but I'd like to know how much of it was true and how much was people being overly superstitious, if you don't mind."

"How do you know about them being accused of witch craft?" he demanded fixing her with a stare that sent a chill down her spine, "No one still alive knows about that, except perhaps the police who stole all of my stuff that should have survived the fire from the Church basement."

"I was assigned to do a report about you and was at the Church earlier yesterday, I tripped and kind of fell through a wall and found a crate full of newspaper articles and Church records that mentioned your family," Maggie explained trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"You have those papers, the police didn't get them?" William asked.

"Yes, I have them; I was looking through them when Rob called me. So what really happened?" Maggie asked, shuddering slightly at the thought of Rob and hoping to change the subject to something that wouldn't bring those images back into her head.

"My father's family had lived in the village since it was founded and my mother's family moved in shortly after that, they were well respected members of the community. Then one night a couple of kids snuck onto our property and saw my brother come home, by the next day a mob had gathered outside of our home accusing us of being demons and witches," William told her then stopped to get some water as his voice seemed to become even more gravely the longer he talked.

"What was it about your brother that made them think you were demons?" Maggie asked her curiosity over powering her fear.

"We weren't human, we could make ourselves look human, but we were really dragons. Living in hiding among humans was our only way to survive without living our entire lives hiding in caves like this. The kids saw my brother as he landed after a midnight flight and returned to his human form. People had always had a feeling that there was something different about us, but my grandparents were said to be the best blacksmiths, wood and leather workers in the state. People would come from all over to get things from them, which meant the people would spend money at other places in town, so no one ever bothered them, until they saw my brother," William stopped for a moment taking another drink of water and absently rubbing at his throat then continued, "When we realized they were going after our entire family, I was sent to warn my aunt who had just lost her husband. I helped get her and three of my cousins to her husband's family who lived over two days ride from the village. I came back here thinking that my family would have come here to hide until I returned; when I couldn't find any sign of them I headed towards the village. As I approached it I found my father’s body hanging from a tree at the edge of town, at each corner I found another family member’s body tied to lamp posts or street signs, when they had run out of street corners they hung the bodies from the sides of buildings.”

“I altered my human appearance enough that I wouldn't be recognized and asked what had happened, I was told they had all been hung except for my grandfather on my mother’s side, he had been shot several times before they could hang him. Apparently at the last minute he had taken on a semi dragon form, wings and talons, his skin and face remained human, but otherwise not much different from my appearance now," he said looking down at his own hands for a moment, "He had tried to get loose, to free the others, but he was out numbered and the humans were armed with guns, his body was the only one I hadn't found. Hearing that he had died too meant that my entire family had been killed, all four of my grandparents, my parents, all nine of my younger siblings, three aunts, two uncles, two cousins and my two year old niece. After they had been murdered their bodies were preserved and put on display so everyone who came to town would know what the village had done to them, like it was some great accomplishment. I was crazy with grief and anger and when I found the newspaper article that told each of the people who had hung my family I decided they thought we were demons and I would show them a demon before I made them pay for what they had done. I shape shifted into the most terrifying appearance I could imagine and went after them, killing all of them. I was just about to go after the judge who had sentenced them to die when I was finally caught. I was locked up for a few days while they decided what to do with me, then a woman was brought to the cell I was being kept in. I could sense it before she made it into the room, she was evil, she was a real witch. At first I thought she was being brought in to be held until she would be hung, but they stopped in front of my cell and put a curse on me, but it backfired. The curse was supposed to strip me of my natural dragon powers, force me to sleep for twenty three years and wakeup for twenty three days and never be able to die, that part worked, but the curse also stated that on the twenty three days I was awake I would hunt and eat my father’s kind, making them suffer when I did or I would suffer horribly myself. The curse went by my father's family line, what they didn't know was that my father was only half dragon, his father had been human. It seems the curse simply went with the male line making it so I only had to hunt humans. After they cursed me they just let me go and I returned here until the curse started to work. It was like an unnatural instinct urging me to kill any human I could find and I gladly let it take over at first, although having to eat parts of the humans I killed disgusted me and is something I doubt I'll ever completely get used to. By the end of that first twenty three days I had killed everyone in the village, I saved these three for last," he said indicating the three bodies hanging on the wall, "I locked them up in the basement of the Church where I would butcher, eat and preserve the bodies of the other villagers in front of them, making sure they knew what they had brought upon themselves, then on the last day I killed them. That night I went to sleep and the next thing I knew it was twenty three years later," he told her then grimaced slightly.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked.

"I must eat, when I return stay in here or in the bedroom and do not come out until I tell you, you can," he told her.

Maggie just nodded her head, understanding why he wouldn't want her around and watched him spread his huge magnificent wings and disappear through a door that opened up in the ceiling.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stuff Maggie says about her father is completely based on my father and things that I did. Clearly I haven’t gotten over it as my father’s name was Kevin and Rob’s last name was Kevinson.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next half hour or so Maggie continued to look around finding beautifully carved cabinets that had hundreds of handmade weapons in them that looked as if they had been made from bone. Some were held together with what she assumed was dried human skin. Part of her was disgusted by the thought that all the weapons were probably made from pieces of humans, but if he really had no choice about killing the people at least he found some use for their remains, even if it was weapons to use to kill more humans.

Maggie was pulled from her thoughts when she heard what sounded like something hitting the floor in the other room. A moment later William came back in through the door in the ceiling, his clothes now splattered with blood. He walked into the other room slamming the door shut behind him, a few seconds later she heard a man start screaming for help and begging the monster to let him go.

Maggie looked around desperately for something to drown out the man's screams and the sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh, but couldn't find anything. She finally curled up in a corner as far away from the door as she could get and held her hands over her ears and cried. She wanted to run out and try to help the man, but knew there was nothing she could do to stop what was happening and it left her feeling so helpless and guilty for not at least trying.

She was still curled up in the corner when a hand touched her shoulder making her jump. She looked up to see William standing there; completely naked with his skin still damp from where he had no doubt had to wash blood off, "How can you do that to people? How can you make them suffer like that?" she asked wiping the tears from her face.

"I have no choice, part of the curse was that I make those I kill suffer before I kill them," William told her as he stepped back so she could get up and held out a hand to help her up.

Maggie hesitated a moment looking at his hand with its long black nails, that the night before she had seen rip Rob apart and covered with his blood. Hands that based on the fact that his voice now sounded practically human had probably just ripped someone’s throat out. She was disgusted by the thought, but pushed it to the back of her mind and just as he started to pull away Maggie finally grabbed his hand and let him help her up.

"Isn't there anything you can do to fight this curse?" Maggie asked.

"I've tried before and end up suffering horribly until I can't stand it any longer," William told her as he walked across the room and angrily threw a knife into the witch's skin on the wall.

"I thought you said that the curse said you had to kill and eat everyone you saw, how can you keep me here and not have to eat me?" Maggie asked trying to concentrate on her curiosity and not the fear she felt being around him.

"The second twenty three days I was awake I still had no problem with hunting and killing most humans. I hated killing innocent children though, but I was unable to stop myself. I spent many days praying and begging God to free me from this curse, then on the tenth day I had been awake, an angle appeared to me and told me the curse couldn't be removed, but it could be altered slightly. The ages of the humans I had to eat would be limited to the age range of the people who had killed my family, the oldest would be sixty seven and the youngest fifteen. I would also be able to pick and choose which ones I ate, but I would still be held to the curses requirement of at least five a day, but if I found more than that I would be able to choose not to eat them except for the last few days when I would have to eat more, sort of like animals eating more before they hibernate I guess. My eating of humans was also given a new purpose; any part of a human that I ate would be able to replace part of me if I was injured and because of my dragon heritage I would never have to eat a virgin."

"But I thought dragons were supposed to have eaten virgin maidens," Maggie said.

"That's only what the humans thought, no dragon has ever eaten a virgin, it was rare that a dragon would even consider eating a human and then it was usually after the dragon’s family had been slaughtered by the humans first. Most of the time when a dragon demanded a sacrifice it was because their mate had been killed by humans, so they would demand a sacrifice so they would have someone to help take care of their children. They didn't want to separate someone from their own family so they would never accept a sacrifice who was married with a family and they didn't want anyone with questionable morals helping care for their children. That's why dragons demanded virgin sacrifices, but they never ate them. According to an ancient legend any dragon who killed an innocent virgin would have their wings rot off before finally dying and I don't think any dragon has ever been stupid enough to find out if it was true," William explained.

"So there's no way you can escape the curse?" Maggie asked.

"There is one way, but it's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, what do you have to do to break the curse?" Maggie asked.

"I'm not allowed to tell anyone or it wouldn't work," William told her as a large beautifully carved clock struck nine.

"Oh great, I'm going to be so late for school, my first class doesn't start until ten, but there's no way I can get home, get my stuff and still be there in time. Could you fly me back to my car?" Maggie asked knowing it was a long shot, but still refusing to give up hope of getting away from the creature.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you leave?" William asked.

"Because if I miss too many classes I'll lose my scholarship and I don't think you want one of the few people you can talk to without eating them not speaking to you. This whole thing is still kind of freaking me out and you absolutely terrify me, but I don't think I would mind spending some time talking to you and learning more about you. However if you make me stay here and I lose my scholarship you'll just make me mad and I'll refuse to speak to you," Maggie told him.

"You promise you'll willingly come back, you won't try to run off as soon as I let you out of my sight or put up a fight when I bring you back here?" he asked uncertainly.

"Exactly how much of my time do you expect me to stay here? And why are you really keeping me around? I have a hard time believing you just want someone to talk to," Maggie asked still afraid of why he might want her there.

"If you're still afraid I'm going to rape you, don't be, I would never do something like that and even if I wanted to I can't. Dragons like reptiles keep those organs inside of their bodies, when I created this form I had no need for them so they remained internal as they would have been in my dragon form, only in this form there's no way to get them out. As for how much time you'll be here, you will stay here every moment you're not attending your classes," William told her.

"What about my mom and my job," Maggie asked.

"Tell your mother and the people you work for you're going on a vacation for the next twenty three days," William replied.

"There's no way my boss will give me that much time off, I'll end up getting fired," Maggie told him.

"Do you like your job?"

"No, I hate it, but I kind of have to have the money if I want to pay my rent and buy food," Maggie told him.

"If you hate it, quit, you can use this for your rent and food," he said as he pulled a bundle of money out of a desk drawer and handed it to her.

"Where did you get all of this?" Maggie asked as she flipped through the pile of bills and realized they were all over twenty three years old, "Never mind, I can figure it out myself, at least you're not wasteful with the stuff you take off of your victims. So can you take me back to my car?" She asked.

"Is there somewhere at your school that I can land away from any people?" William asked.

"Yeah, the roof, no one ever goes up there except for me, but I have to stop at home, get my stuff and get out of these bloody clothes. Wouldn't that be dangerous getting you that close to people? I don't think I could handle watching you eat any more of my classmates."

"I just ate, so as long as there isn't anyone on the roof I should be fine, and we can stop at your house to get your stuff," William told her.

"Are you sure you'll be able to carry me along with my heavy book bag?" Maggie asked.

William smirked, "Trust me that won't be a problem, I was flying and dragging a truck down the road after being shot by two harpoons with one of them still through my chest last time I was awake. I don't think I'll have a problem carrying you and some books."

"Okay, let's go then," Maggie said trying not to let him know how uncomfortable she was with letting him carry her again.

William scooped her up, asked her where she lived and then took off out the door in the ceiling. They flew in silence for several minutes and Maggie was trying desperately to concentrate on the scenery below her and not the monster that was carrying her when William said, "You don't have to pretend my appearance doesn't bother you or that you aren't uncomfortable with me holding you like this. I created this appearance to be terrifying; I just didn't plan on being stuck like this forever. So you don't have to try to hide what you think of me. Anyways I can smell when you're afraid or nervous, so pretending you’re not, really doesn't do any good," he told her as he landed on the roof of her apartment building and set her down.

"I'll be back in about twenty minutes, try not to eat anyone while I'm away," Maggie said as she opened the door that lead down into the building.

Maggie took a quick shower, threw on clean clothes and considered calling for help, but decided that would only put more people in danger, so she grabbed her backpack then headed back up to the roof.

She nearly laughed when she opened the door and saw William lying on his stomach on the roof in the sun with his wings spread out.

"So are you taking me to school or do you just want to lay there in the sun all day?" Maggie asked.

"I wish I could just stay here all day, but eventually the curse will make me hunt again and I don't want to be anywhere near where you might have friends I could end up eating," William said as he got up.

"You don't have to worry about that, I only have one real friend and she lives about ten miles south of town, so just don't go that way to hunt and my family lives a few counties away so as long as you don't go too far to hunt you shouldn't run into anyone that I would hate you for eating," Maggie told him.

"Alright, I won't hunt south of town and if I do leave the county to hunt I'll ask you which way not to go first," William said.

"Sounds good to me, or totally messed up that I'm helping you decide where to look for more people to kill," Maggie said.

"Think of it this way, there's nothing that can be done to stop the curse, you’re just protecting the people you care about," William told her as he picked her up and took off.

When they got close to the school and William started to drop below the clouds Maggie asked. "Aren't you worried about people seeing you?"

"Why should I be? There's nothing they can do to me that hasn't been done before and any pain they could inflict I would deserve for the things I've done."

"If someone caught you, would you really just let them hurt you because you think you deserve it?" Maggie asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time. Did you see me while I was tied up in that barn?"

"Yeah, Rob and I stopped out there before we went to the Church," Maggie replied, "Did you let them mangle your body like that?"

"No, the limbs that had been ripped off happened when I went through the cab of a truck, but the stab wounds, those I could have tried to stop. I had lost a leg and an arm as well as both wings and had a heavy pipe stuck through my head, at first I tried to get it out so I could try to get up, but when the man started stabbing me I gave up. I still had one good arm, I could have grabbed the harpoon he was stabbing me with and killed him before he realized what was happening, but I had killed his son, I deserved whatever he did to me," William told her as he landed on the roof of the school and set her down.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem right for you to be punished and hurt for something you can't stop," Maggie said glancing down at her watch, "I have to go, I'll meet you up here around three o'clock after my last class ends," she told him.

"Alright I'll be here, just make sure you're here, if you're not, I will hunt you down. The last time I was awake was the first time anyone has ever escaped from me and that was only because I ran out of time," William warned her then flew off.


	7. Chapter 7

"Maggie! Thank goodness, you're alive!"

Maggie looked up from her locker as her best friend pulled her into a tight hug, "Yeah Jen, I'm fine except for a few broken ribs from being squeezed to death," Maggie said as her friend finally let go of her.

"We heard your car was found out by that old church where all those bodies were found and someone's body or at least parts of it were in the basement and one of the police officers said he saw the monster take off with a woman," Jen told.

"Well I'm fine," Maggie reassured her.

"Then why was your car there and what about Rob? They said they found his cell phone and the mangled body was near it," Jen asked.

"My car was there because Rob called me, he had dropped his cell phone when we were there earlier and I went to help him, but it was too late, I didn't get there in time," Maggie told her trying to force the images out of her head.

"Then why didn't you go to the police and who did the Creeper carry off?" Jen asked.

"I didn't go to the police because I was the one he carried off, he was using me to keep the police from shooting him, but apparently he didn't want to eat me," Maggie told her.

"How did you es-"

"Maggie you're alive!"

Maggie barely had time to bring her arms up in front of her chest before two strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her back against the man's chest," Brad get off of me," Maggie said as she shoved his arms away and quickly stepped away from him.

"What? I thought you were dead, aren't I allowed to be happy to see you?" Brad asked.

"It looked more like you were trying to 'accidentally' grab her chest to me," Jen said.

Ignoring her, Brad asked, "How about we go out to dinner to celebrate you still being alive?"

"I think I'd rather spend the evening with Wil- with the Creeper than with you. I've told you before I'm not going out with you no matter how many times you ask, so just quit asking," Maggie said as she grabbed her books and she and Jen walked away.

"Do you think he'll ever give up?" Jen asked.

"I don't know, but if he tries grabbing me like that again I think I'll feed him to the Creeper," Maggie replied.

"Don't you think that's being a little harsh?" Jen asked.

"Maybe, but I'm sure he's more deserving of an end like that than some of the people the Creeper eats are. I mean you've heard the rumors; he's never dated the same woman more than a month and he's slept with about half the women here. It's like some type of game to him. Rob told me he's always bragging to other guys about how many different women he's slept with. I think the only reason he's interested in me is because I'm more of a challenge since I've turned down every guy who's asked me out since I started collage," Maggie told her.

"You're probably right. I'll see you later," Jen said glancing at her watch before running off to her class.

When Maggie got to her first class the teacher stopped her and said, "Thank goodness you're alright, there was a rumor going around that the Creeper had gotten you and Rob. That was such a stupid thing to assign you to research this year. It's just been one of the subjects on the list of legendary creatures for the students to do reports on since I started teaching here seventeen years ago. Have you heard from Rob? No one has been able to get a hold of him."

"The part about him was true; he went back to the church looking for his cell phone that he had dropped when we were there earlier. He called me before he called the police, but by the time I got there it was too late, he was already dead," Maggie told him, praying he’d be the last one to ask so she wouldn’t have to keep thinking about it.

"So you were there when the police got there?"

"Yes, but the Creeper grabbed me and used me as a shield to keep the police from shooting him, then he just let me go, I guess he didn't feel like eating me," Maggie told him.

"I've heard that it doesn't always kill all the people it comes in contact with, I guess you're one of the lucky ones," He said.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Maggie replied, hoping she really was.

"About the report, just forget about it, I can assign you something else or just let you skip the assignment, considering what you‘ve been through."

"Thank you Mr. Kocher, but I found some stuff in the basement of the church that the police missed and I'd really like to finish the report, people deserve to know what's going on," Maggie told him.

"If you have information about this thing that might help people find a way to kill it you should take it to the police right away," Mr. Kocher told her.

"It's nothing like that, just information about where the Creeper came from," Maggie told him.

"Well I can't wait to see what you've found then, since no one else seems to know anything about it."


	8. Chapter 8

After her last class ended Maggie went up to the roof to wait for William to get her, "I can't believe I'm doing this, what type of lunatic lets them self be kidnapped by the Creeper and doesn't try to escape when they have the chance?" Maggie asked herself as she paced around the roof.

"Do you always talk to yourself when you think you're alone?"

Maggie jumped and spun around as William stepped out from behind one of the large air vents that stuck up from the roof.

"Don't sneak up on me like that,” Maggie said before turning to grab her backpack and froze when she heard William start sniffing her, "Do you have any idea how freaky that is? Why are you doing that? I thought you only sniffed people like that when you were trying to decide if you wanted to eat them," Maggie said as she turned back around.

"There was a man close enough to you to leave his sent on you, who was he and why was he so close to you?" William demanded.

"What?" Maggie asked then remembered, "Oh, Brad, he's just this jerk who has been trying to get me to go out with him since I started collage. The police found my car at the church and everyone thought I was dead, so he thought the fact that I was still alive was a good excuse to hug me," she explained.

"Try to stay away from him and don't ever let him get you alone with him," William told her.

"That won't be a problem, he's always made me uncomfortable, I avoid him whenever possible, but why don't you want me around him?" Maggie asked.

"He's a rapist and the fact that he's interested in you could mean you're in danger," William told her.

"Are you sure, I mean I know he's slept around with a lot of-"

"Yes I'm sure. The scent of a man who has slept with multiple women and one who has raped women is completely different," William told her.

"Alright, I'll do everything possible to avoid him," Maggie said then asked, "If something like that did happen, not that it would, he'd have to kill me first, but if it did, would that mean you could eat me then, since I wouldn't be a virgin anymore?"

"No, a woman who has been raped but has never willingly had sex would still be safe from the curse since it wouldn't be her fault," William told her as he picked her up and flew off.

\---

When they got back to his cave William showed Maggie a hidden door in the library that led outside.

"If anything were to happen to me, that I ever don't come back, there's a key to this door on this set of keys," he said pulling some keys out of his pocket, " and a second one hidden in this room."

"Hidden in this room? So basically you're keeping me here like a prisoner, I won't have time to find the key while you're out hunting, but if you don't come back I'll eventually be able to get out if I don't starve to death first," Maggie said beginning to wish she had just run away as soon as he had left her at school that morning instead of arguing about it with herself all day.

"You wouldn't starve to death, that cupboard over there is fully stocked with canned food and there's a full bathroom through the door in the bedroom that has running water that comes up from a spring, you would be fine until you found the key," William told her.

"But I'm still basically your prisoner, aren't I?" Maggie asked.

Letting out a frustrated sigh he replied, "Yes, in a way you are, but you should be grateful, you're the only woman I've ever let out during the day."

"So I'm not the only woman you've kidnapped?" Maggie asked.

"No, now let's go before I need to eat again," William said leading her out the door and to a large old truck that was parked under some large trees.

When they got to Maggie's apartment, she packed a couple of suit cases of stuff and called her mother to let her know she wouldn't be home for a few weeks. For a while she considered calling the police and trying to sneak out of the apartment and get away from the Creeper, but in the end she decided that would just put more people in danger. Anyways even if he did make her uncomfortable when he got too close to her and she couldn't stand having to listen to him kill people, he had been nice to her so far and she did feel sorry for him. Still feeling completely confused about what to do Maggie let out a frustrated sigh, grabbed her bags and headed back out to the truck where William was waiting for her.


	9. Chapter 9

That night Maggie fell asleep praying that she wouldn't wake up to the sound of people screaming when William returned from hunting and that she had made the right decision agreeing to stay with him. As she fell asleep she was still trying to figure out if she really was safe with him or if she should runaway as soon as she got to school the next morning.

Maggie woke up in a large field, she looked around wondering how she had gotten there then noticed a young man in a yellow shirt standing several feet away from her, "Where am I and who are you?" she asked as she jumped to her feet.

"My name is Darry and I'm here to help you," he said.

"Help me with what?" Maggie asked warily.

"Making up your mind about what to do. You need to stay with him," Darry told her.

"With William?" Maggie asked wondering how the man could know about him.

"Yes."

"Why? How do I know he's telling me the truth? What if it's all a lie” What if he's just keeping me so he already has his last meal caught so he won't have to go out hunting and take a chance of being caught on the last day like he was last time?" Maggie asked.

"He won't do that, I think he needs you," Darry told her.

"Why, what does he need me for?" Maggie asked.

"No one is sure, we think it may have something to do with breaking the curse. All we know for sure is that every time he's woken up since the third twenty three days, he chooses a woman to stay with him for the twenty three days then he usually lets her go," Darry told her.

"What do you mean he ‘usually’ lets them go?" Maggie asked.

"The last one died because he never came back to let her go. I think that's why he told you how to get out and made sure you would have food and water as soon as you got back. He found her body while you were gone during the day," Darry told her.

"How do you know all of this?" Maggie asked.

"Everyone he's killed and eaten part of has become part of the curse, trapped and unable to move on and we are sometimes able to see what he's doing. When he tries not to eat he can hear the voices and screams of his victims. Or at least that's what I've been told; he hasn't tried not eating since I've been here, but I have heard the beginning of it. It starts out with a single high pitched scream, that's why he sometimes flinches. I was told that if he doesn't hunt right away he can hear more and more screams and they get louder and louder until he can't stand it anymore. From what I've been told he only lasted longer than that a couple of times, it takes about three hours for the screaming to get to the point that it can't get any louder. Then the screaming stops and he can hear all the children and babies that he killed, before the curse was altered, screaming and crying, at that point he finally gives in to the curse," Darry told her.

"Do you really think I could find a way to break the curse?" Maggie asked feeling more and more sorry for William as she learned more about the curse.

"From what I've heard of the other women he's taken you're stronger and a lot more accepting of him. You're also one of very few who seem to actually feel sorry for him and he seems to trust you for some reason. I'd say you at least have a better chance of figuring it out than the others did," Darry told her, "Oh, and one more thing, don't be angry at him, he did it in his sleep, it wasn't on purpose," he said then everything disappeared before Maggie could ask him what he was talking about.


	10. Chapter 10

When Maggie woke up she realized what Darry had been talking about, William was sleeping on the other side of the large bed, but one of his wings was stretched out over Maggie. The long clawed thumb was curled slightly around her shoulder and the rest of the wing was curled snugly around her. She fought back a shudder at waking up next to him, although she had to admit if it weren’t attached to something so horrific looking the wing would have felt nice wrapped around her. She hesitantly, gently started pushing the wing and blankets off of her.

William woke up, turned his head to look at her then quickly pulled his wing away from her, "I'm sorry about that I-"

Maggie held up a hand and said, "Don't worry about it, you can't control what you do when you're asleep, but couldn't I just have my own bed?" she asked.

"This bed is big enough for both of us and I don't sleep that much anyways. Plus it would be too difficult to get another bed down here and the only place there would be enough room is in the main room and I doubt you would want to sleep out there," William replied.

Maggie shuddered at the thought of sleeping in a room with dead bodies all over the walls then said, "Fine, just stay on your side of the bed then."

"I'll try, but like you said I can't control what I do when I'm asleep," he replied, grinning at her.

Maggie fought back another shudder at the sight of his long sharp teeth, but quickly recovered and said, "As long as you really are asleep, because if you try anything and you aren't really asleep and I find out you'll wish you had just slept on the floor."

\----

Once Maggie was ready to leave for school William handed her a large oval pendant that looked like it was made out of bone and had a leather strap to tie around the neck.

"What is this?" Maggie asked looking at the beautifully detailed carving of a dragon on the one side of it.

"I want you to keep it with you just in case you need it," William said taking it and shifting one of the dragon's wings to the side and pushing a small button causing a three inch blade to come out the bottom of it.

"Okay," she said then not entirely sure she wanted to know she asked, "What's it made out of?"

William smiled and flipped it over so she could see a carving of a man holding an ax standing between a young girl and a bear, on the other side, "This was made several years before my family was killed. There was a bear in the area, it was injured, but was still able to hunt, but had started hunting people and had killed a few men who had tried to kill it. I was chopping wood when I heard one of my sisters start screaming, she came running past me and the bear was right behind her. I did the only thing I could, I attacked the bear with the ax. I ended up with a few long cuts from its claws, but I won. For a while I was the town hero for finally killing it and my grandfather who taught me how to carve insisted that I should make something from its bones so I would always have something to remind me that I was a hero, that I had done something that had saved my sister's life and probably dozens of others. Then I ended up killing everyone in that village, more people than that bear ever could have killed," he said.

"You chose to risk your own life to save your sister, you had no choice when you killed others, except for those first twenty three and anyone who could hang innocent children deserved to die. You are a hero for saving your sister's life, what the curse has made you do doesn't change that," Maggie told him, "Now let's get going or I'll be late," she said as he handed the pendant back to her and she put it on.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the day was uneventful aside from rumors circulating about the Creeper terrorizing and killing people the day and night before. After her last class Maggie went up to the roof. When she got there William wasn’t there yet so she sat down and started reading over some of the newspaper articles about Darry that she had gotten copies of at the library between classes. She was so absorbed in what she was reading that she didn’t realize the roof door had been opened.

"So what are you doing up here?" Brad asked.

Maggie shot up faster than she had ever moved before and almost reached for the knife, but stopped herself, deciding if he tried anything she didn't want him to know about it until the last minute, "I come up here to read all the time," she told him as she put her papers back in her backpack and tried to decide whether she should try to get back into the school where there were other people or just wait a while longer and hope William got there soon.

"So do you need a ride home? I didn't see your car in the parking lot," Brad asked.

"No, I have a friend who will be picking me up soon, I should actually get down stairs before I miss them," Maggie told him after glancing around and not seeing any sign of William coming yet.

"Why are you lying to me?" Brad asked.

"What do you mean? I'm not lying," Maggie said.

"Everyone in this school knows you don't have any friends except for Jen and I just saw her leave before I came up here," Brad told her.

"What are you doing up here anyways?" Maggie asked.

"I got tired of asking you out and you always saying no," Brad told her as he stepped between her and the door.

"And you think cornering me on the roof is going to change my answer?" Maggie asked as she tightened her grip on her backpack straps figuring with the books she had in it, it would make a good weapon without her having to be too close to use it.

"Oh I don't expect you to change your mind, but I always get what I want. Now how about we start off with a kiss and we go from there?" Brad asked taking a quick step towards her.

"You take one more step and you'll wish you'd never come to this school," Maggie told him taking another step back.

"And what are you going to do to stop me? None of the other women have been able to stop me, what makes you think you can?" he asked as he started to walk closer to her.

"How about this," Maggie said as she swung her backpack into the side of his head hard enough to knock him to the ground and make his head bleed.

He glared up at her for a second then suddenly shot up onto his feet and slammed her back against one of the air vents.

Maggie smiled at him for a second, "What are you smiling about?" he demanded sounding a little confused by her reaction.

"It just amazes me how stupid men can be sometimes," Maggie replied then slammed her knee up between his legs and then into his face as he screamed and doubled over in pain.

"Now I would suggest you get out of here now or I can just about guarantee you'll be the Creepers next meal," Maggie told him as she backed away from him.

"You think I'm going to let you get away with that?" he demanded as he forced himself to his feet and lunged at her again catching her by her throat and spinning her around so he could pin her against the vent again, "You really think some monster is going to care what I do to you?" he demanded angrily.

"You stay up here much longer and you'll find out," Maggie choked out while she slipped her hand up to the pendant and twisted it so the end was against his arm then released the blade, cutting deep into the back of his arm.

Brad yelled and pulled back and Maggie tried to run for the door, but he managed to knock her down making her land hard on her hands and knees on the rough rooftop, "The longer you fight, the more I'll make you suffer, why don't you just give up now?" Brad said as he flipped her onto her back.


	12. Chapter 12

Maggie struggled for a second then smiled as she saw William flying towards the building, "You should have left when you had the chance."

Brad glanced over his shoulder then jumped away from Maggie when he saw the Creeper flying towards him and ran for the roof door.

"Maggie are you alright?" William asked as he landed and ran to Maggie's side.

Maggie held up her hands, "A little scraped up, but I'm okay," she told him as he helped her up, then, too shaken to care about anything but the fact that she was safe, she wrapped her arms around him and started to cry, "I was so afraid you wouldn't get here in time, he must have followed me, I kept fighting him, but he's a football player, he was so strong, I wasn't sure how much longer I could stop him, I was so scared."

"It's alright, you're safe now and I promise you he'll never try to hurt you again," William said wrapping his arms around her and then wrapping his wings around her, so they embraced her entire body.

Maggie relaxed and stopped crying, feeling completely safe and at peace with William's wings wrapped around her. At least until she had calmed down enough to realize what she was doing and stepped back, blushing slightly.

"We should get back to the cave and get your hands and knees cleaned up," William told her as he slowly let go of her.

Maggie just nodded in agreement and they left.

When they got to the cave William got a rag and a bowl of water, "How much of that is your blood?" he asked indicating the blood on Maggie's skirt.

"I think most of it's from Brad, I kneed him in the face after kneeing him between the legs and probably broke his nose," she told him as she pulled her skirt up above her knees to reveal they were only scraped up a little worse than her hands.

William smiled, "Good, hopefully he'll be suffering until I get a hold of him," he said as he started to gently clean the dirt from Maggie's wounds.

Maggie just sat quietly watching William work, for someone who could rip vehicles apart with his bare hands he was amazingly gentle. She looked away trying to distract herself from the pain as he carefully picked a few pieces of gravel from her hands and she realized he would have to have gentle well controlled hands to carve all the intricate details on the handles of his weapons and furniture.

Once he had finished cleaning and bandaging Maggie's wounds he asked, "Do you want something to eat?"

"No, I feel completely drained from fighting with Brad, I just want to lie down for a while. I'll get something to eat later," Maggie told him as she started to get up and gasped from the pain in her knees.

"You should probably try not to walk for a while, your knees will probably be sore for a few days and I don't have any ice around here to help with the swelling," William told her as he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, "Do you need anything else before I leave?" he asked as he pulled the covers over her.

"No, I'll be fine," Maggie told him as she curled up and started to fall asleep instantly.

Maggie woke up a few hours later and was heading to the library to get something to eat. As she walked through the main room she looked around and instantly regretted it. To one side of the room a human skin was laid out over a board that was propped up at an angle. Bits of muscle still clung to almost half of the inside of the skin, the other half had been scrapped clean down to a nearly white layer of the skin. In several see through plastic tubs she could see more skins soaking in what she assumed was something that would preserve them. Another tub held disarticulated bones that had most of the muscle removed.

 

Apatite gone Maggie turned to head back to the bedroom when she heard something banging behind her. Maggie turned around just as a body wrapped in a tarp fell out of a pipe similar to the one that had been at the old church. She was going to ignore it until she heard the person groan and thought she recognized the voice. Making sure there were no more bodies falling Maggie walked over and pulled the tarp away from the person’s fearful and blood smeared face, “You really should have left me alone when you had the chance.” She said.

 

“Help me; please get me out of here before that thing kills me.” Brad begged.

 

 “If I were you I’d be doing a lot of praying and begging God to forgive you, because he is going to torture you and then that is what is going to happen to you,” she told him pointing to the corner of body parts, “it’s where you go after you die that you should be worrying about.” Maggie said leaving for the other room as another body fell down the pipe.

 

About ten minutes later William came in through the door in the ceiling of the library and headed to the other room.

 

“Can I watch you rip Brad apart?” Maggie asked, she’d rarely admit it, but when pushed too far she could have a rather vengeful side and wanted to see what William would do to Brad.

 

"No, when I butcher people the curse starts to take over to force me to make them suffer, I don't want you to see me like that," he said shutting the door behind him.

Maggie grabbed a book and sat down to read while listening to Brad scream and beg to just be killed. For a moment she wandered if there was something wrong with her for not being bothered by his screams and the sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bones. Although after what he had tried to do to her and had done to who knew how many other women she just couldn't feel bad about what was happening to him.

When Brad had finally stopped screaming things were quiet for a few minutes then she heard a woman start screaming, that she couldn't deal with, Brad had deserved what happened to him, but listening to a complete stranger, who had probably done nothing wrong being killed was more than Maggie could take. She walked over to the desk and flipped open her laptop and was about to turn on some music to try to drowned out the sounds from the other room when she heard the woman start to beg William not to kill her. Maggie froze for a split second then ran to the door and into the other room, "William! No stop! She's my friend," she yelled when she saw him trying to tie Jen to the large table where he killed his victims. He didn't respond, seeming like he hadn't even heard her.


	13. Chapter 13

Maggie ran over, slipping between William and the table Jen was on and shoved him backwards. Her heart seemed to stop when she looked into his eyes, they seemed glazed over and she realized either he really couldn't hear her or the curse had taken over so completely that he couldn't respond. He came back towards her and shoved her aside causing her to fall on to her already bruised knees.

Flinching slightly from the pain Maggie quickly got up and looked around desperately trying to figure some way to stop him. She finally spotted a large hatchet laying on the table next to Jen. Grabbing it she slammed the flat side of it into the back of William's head, but he only turned and took it from her, tossing it to the other side of the room then went back to tying Jen down. When having a knife plunged into his back barely got a response she realizing simply hurting him wouldn't stop him and not sure what else to do to save her friend's life she forced herself back between William and the table. Her stomach churned at the site of the blood that ran down his chin from his last meal, but not sure what else to try she kissed him. He froze for a second then started to return the kiss and his wings started to slowly wrap around her. With one hand Maggie managed to find a knife on the table behind her and cut the ropes that held one of Jen's wrists then felt Jen take the knife to free her other arm just as William's wings closed around her, pulling her closer to him.

Maggie felt something being pressed into her hand and realized it was the keys to William's truck and to the door in the library, then he pressed a knife into her other hand. Maggie slipped the keys into her pocket then, slipping her hand between his wings and grabbing another knife off of the table she pulled away from William saying, "Forgive me," as she drove the two knives into his eyes. He let out a loud screech, dropped to his knees as he grabbed his face and suddenly spread his wings blocking Maggie as she started to run to where Jen was standing next to the library door. Fighting back tears Maggie grabbed a short handled battle ax that was leaning against the end of the table and in two swings cut off both of his wings, then grabbing Jen she dragged her into the library and shut the door.

"Maggie what do we do? There's no way out of here," Jen cried.

"Yes there is," Maggie said as she pulled open the desk drawer William had gotten the money out of the first day she was there. She found a large bag of cash, grabbed it then ran over to the wall where the door was and quickly unlocked it.

"Where does this go?" Jen asked as Maggie dragged her up the tunnel.

"Out," Maggie replied as she shoved the outer door open then ran to the truck until Jen suddenly stopped, "Come on we have to get out of here," Maggie said trying to pull Jen towards the truck.

"That truck, I don't want to go near that truck," Jen said tears running down her face.

Maggie turned resting her hands on Jen's shoulders and said, "Jen that truck is the only way we're going to get out of here, if you don't get in the truck now he will catch you and he will kill you. Getting in that truck is the only way you're going to have a chance of getting out of this alive. I'll be right there with you, you'll be fine."

Jen looked uncertainly at the truck but finally got in. Maggie got in the driver’s seat and pulled out onto the road then took off as fast as the truck would go, silently praying that she wouldn't crash the truck and that it was possible to get Jen far enough away to be safe.


	14. Chapter 14

"What are we going to do? Haven't you heard the stories? Once the Creeper decides it wants something from you it won't stop coming after you until it gets you," Jen said frantically, glancing in the mirrors and out the windows.

"There must be some way of escaping him, maybe you just have to get far enough away," Maggie suggested, trying to sound calm.

"What if you're wrong, what if we're just wasting our time and he'll get us no matter where we go?" Jen sobbed.

"I'm not wrong, we just have to get you as far away from here as possible," Maggie said.

"How do you know that, how can you be so sure you're right?" Jen asked.

"Because he wouldn't have given me the keys to the truck if there was no way for you to escape," Maggie replied.

"Why would the Creeper give you the keys to his truck or help us escape?" Jen asked.

"I'll explain when we get to the airport; I don't know how fast this thing is going, but it's fast enough I think I should be concentrating on driving," Maggie told her.

They had been driving for about fifteen minutes when a police car started following them with its lights and sirens on. For a second Maggie considered just ignoring him, but finally decided to pull over.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were just going?" the officer asked as he came up to Maggie's door.

"No, I don't, the speedometer doesn't work," Maggie replied.

"You were going over a hundred and seventy, would you mind explaining why you're in such a hurry?" the officer asked.

"Have you heard of the Creeper?" Maggie asked somewhat impatiently.

"Yeah, the thing killed my uncle twenty three years ago. What does that have to do with this?"

"He was about to eat my friend, we took his truck and we need to get to the airport as fast as possible, so if you could call ahead and have the police try to keep people off of the highways from here to the airport it would probably help because I'm not stopping or slowing down again until we get there," Maggie told him.

The officer looked at her like she was crazy for a second then walked around to the front of the truck and she could see his eyes get huge when he saw the license plate. He then walked around to the back of the truck and Maggie could hear him opening the back, "You- you're serious? This isn't some type of joke? You really stole his truck?" he asked as he came back.

"Yes, now my friend’s life depends on me getting her as far away from here as possible, just try to get the highways cleared," Maggie said then tore back out onto the road and took off.

The rest of the drive went quickly and Maggie was relieved to find the highway was quickly cleared so she wouldn't have to try to get around any other vehicles.

When they got to the airport Maggie and Jen ran inside, "You have an aunt who lives in Hawaii don't you?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, I do," Jen replied.

Maggie shoved to the front of the line, ignoring the people who complained, "I need a flight to Hawaii right now," she said dropping the bag of cash in front of the man working at the desk.

"I'm sorry we don't have any flights going to Hawaii until noon tomorrow," He replied.

"Then cancel one of your other flights and send it," Maggie told him.

"We can't do that, we have people here waiting for all our other flights. We can't just cancel one, no matter how much money you have," another man told her.

"Look the Creeper is after my friend here and if you don't get her a flight to Hawaii he'll come here and end up killing more people," Maggie told him.

"How do I know you're not making this up? I thought that thing was supposed to have been killed twenty three years ago," the man asked.

"One I stole this money from him, two I stole his truck and it's sitting in the parking lot in row C if you want to go see it and the police believed me enough to clear the highways so I could get here faster. And the Creeper can't be killed," Maggie told him.

The man sent one of the security guards out to check.

A few minutes later the security guard ran back into the airport, "It's true, it's got the beatngu license plates and there's blood all over inside the back of it. It really is the Creeper's truck," he told the man.

Within seconds word had spread and enough people who had heard of the Creeper were running around grabbing their bags and leaving as quickly as possible, to set off a chain reaction of panic that left the airport nearly empty in a matter of minutes.

"Now how about a flight to Hawaii? I don't think there's anyone waiting for your other flights anymore," Maggie asked turning back to the people behind the desk and holding up the bag of cash again.

"Alright, it'll just take us a little while to let the pilots know what's going on," a woman told her.

"Good, do you have a first aid kit or a nurse's office around here?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, right this way," the woman said and showed them to a small employee bathroom with emergency medical supplies.

"How did you end up getting caught?" Maggie asked as she started to clean a cut on Jen's arm.

"I got a call from my mom, they had to take my little sister to the emergency room and I went to make sure everything was alright. You know how my car hasn't sounded right for the last few weeks? Well it finally died at the hospital so I ended up taking the bus to get home then something blew out the tires. A few minutes later the Creeper showed up, it kept disappearing and then it would popup by one of the windows, it was like it was seeing how badly it could scare us. It would be looking in one window one minute and everyone would move to the other side of the bus then it would disappear and then show up banging on the windows behind everyone and scare them to the other side. When we finally just sat back down because we didn't know what else to do it started going from window to window grinning at people or licking its lips. Brad was on the bus, looked like someone had already beaten him really badly. When the Creeper got to him, he disappeared for a second then he just tore the roof open above Brad and pulled him out. We could see him from the bus, he beat Brad up real bad and then it looked like he ripped off everything between his legs and shoved into Brad’s mouth, then he wrapped and tied him up and threw him into the truck then came back. He busted another hole through one of the windows and grabbed this guy by the arm. It was horrible, we tried to keep him from pulling the guy out, but he ended up pulling the guy’s arm off. Then it stood outside of the bus, pulling on the tendons that were sticking out of the severed end of the arm and making the hand open and close like it was waving at us. It eventually got the guy and another and me," Jen told her tears running down her face again.

"Well, don't worry, by the time he's done with the others you'll be safe and on your way to your aunt’s. I'm not going to let him get you, you're safe now," Maggie told her as she finished bandaging a deep cut on Jen's leg than went to wash her hands.

"What if he gets here before the plane takes off?" Jen asked.

"Then I'll keep him distracted until you get away," Maggie told her then shuddered when she looked in the mirror above the sink and saw blood on her face from when she had kissed William. Fighting back nausea she quickly looked away from the mirror and washed her face.

"What if he kills you this time? I mean you did stab his eyes and cut off his wings," Jen pointed out.

"I think he wanted me to, I think that's why he spread his wings like that, to make me realize he would be able to fly after us," Maggie told her.

"I don't understand, why would he help us escape and if he did want us to escape why didn't he just let us go?" Jen asked.

"Because he couldn't just let you go, I don't think he could control most of what he was doing. He's not evil, a witch put a curse on him over two hundred years ago. The curse makes him kill and eat people. He doesn't do it because he wants to, he just has no choice," Maggie told her.

"How do you know that? No one knows anything about the Creeper except what was written by that lady whose brother was killed by it and she didn't even know that much about it," Jen asked.

"I know because he told me," Maggie replied.

"What! It can talk and you've talked to the thing?" Jen asked in disbelief.

"Yes, apparently every time he wakes up he chooses a woman and keeps her with him until he goes back to sleep for another twenty three years. No one knows why he does it, but they think it has something to do with breaking the curse. I wasn't there because he was going to eat me; I was there because I've basically been his prisoner since he woke up, although he does let me go to school," Maggie explained.

"Well if he's keeping you prisoner are you going to come with me so you can escape too?" Jen asked.

"No, if there's a chance I can figure out how to break the curse I have to do it. Who knows how many lives could be saved if I can figure it out," Maggie told her.

"But who told you he won't kill you, what if they're wrong?" Jen asked.

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you," Maggie said.

The woman from earlier came in and said, "Your flight is ready."

"Thank you," Maggie said then turned to Jen and asked. "Are you ready to go?"

"I guess, will you let my mom know where I am? She's probably already worrying about me, I promised her I would call her when I got home," Jen said.

"Of course. Now I want you to go enjoy those nice beaches and just relax and forget about all this for the next three weeks or so and don't come back before that," Maggie told her as they headed towards the boarding gate.

"I'll try to enjoy it although I'd still feel better if you were coming with me. What if the people you talked to are wrong and the Creeper does hurt or kill you?" Jen asked

"Don't worry, I'll be fine and his name is William," Maggie reassured her.

"Who's name? The person who told you, you would be safe?" Jen asked.

"No, the Creeper, his name is William," Maggie told her.

"William? That's such a normal sounding name for such a vicious monster," Jen said.

"He wasn't always a monster, he had a family, he lived outside of a small village and had a normal life until his family was murdered and the curse was put on him. I'll send you scans of some of the newspaper articles I've found and a copy of my report when I'm done with it," Maggie told her.

"Okay, I'll see you in three weeks," Jen said as they came to the boarding gate.

"I'll see you, make sure you get to a doctor and get that leg stitched up as soon as you get there, and have fun," Maggie said.

"I'll try," Jen said as they hugged then she got on the plane.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was in college I had raccoon and possums destroying my garden, so I decided they ate my food so I was going to eat them. Trapped them, killed them, and when I was skinning them and trying to detach the feet I discovered that pulling on the tendons would open and close the foot and instantly knew I had to add that to this story.   
> Possum when cooked with just butter and salt tastes like a cross between dark meat chicken and liver, really good aside from being really fatty, but the fat almost melts off while cooking so it’s easy to get off. Raccoon has more of a gamey flavor, but still good and gives you a beautiful fur to tan. Random fact about tanning hides, mashing brains, mixing it with water and rubbing them into the hide helps make it velvet soft, and each animal has the exact right amount of brains to tan it’s own hide.


	15. Chapter 15

Maggie stayed by the window until the plane's lights disappeared into the dark sky then she headed out of the airport. After slipping past the police who were waiting to ask her some questions she finally got to the truck and took off.

She was about halfway back to the cave and struggling to stay awake when she heard a bang on the roof, she hesitated a moment then pulled over and got out of the truck. Before she had even turned so she could look up William landed next to her. She froze suddenly worried that he would be angry at her for hurting him even if he had given her the knife.

"Maggie relax, you did what you had to, to save your friend's life, I'm not upset about it," William told her.

"I'm so sorry for-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for; you did what you had to, what I, as much as I was able to, told you to do. I was actually worried you wouldn't realize why I blocked you with my wing, not only did it make me unable to fly after you, since humans don't have wings it takes them longer to grow back, you did well. Now let's get you home and to bed, you look exhausted and from the way you've been driving for the last few minutes you were probably dozing off at the wheel," William told her.

"That's possible, I've had enough excitement today to last me a life time," Maggie said as she climbed into the passenger's seat, then once William was in she asked, "Is she safe?"

"Yes, where ever you took her it's too far away for the curse to make me go after her. You did well, you're very brave," he replied.

"Thanks, but I still feel bad about hurting you," Maggie said.

"I've been through much worse and this time it was worth it," he said grinning a little.

"What do you mean it was worth it?" Maggie asked.

"It's not every day I get kissed by a beautiful woman," he replied.

Maggie started to blush slightly until the image of his blood covered face crossed her mind and she had to fight back the urge to throw up, "I just didn't know what else to do," she said.

"I'm just glad you didn't throw up on me," William told her.

"Even with whatever the curse did to you, you could still tell what I was feeling?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, although it was obvious enough from the look on your face what you were feeling," he told her.

"What's it like, when the curse takes over like that? I mean could you hear me or see me when I first came out?" Maggie asked.

"Yes I could. It's like being trapped in your own body, you have all your senses, but you don't have any control over what you do. I have control when I catch the people, but for some reason when I bring them back to the cave the curse seems to take over when I'm butchering them. If I try to kill them without making them suffer or without making them suffer long enough it just takes over and no matter how hard I try I have no control over what I do until all of the victims I've brought back are dead," he told her.

"But if you don't have any control until they're all dead, how were you able to give me the keys and the knife?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know, when you kissed me it seemed to weaken the curse enough for me to fight it long enough for me to give them to you, but as soon as you stopped the curse took over again. Spreading my wings was just a reaction to the pain although I was able to make sure I came down so it was in your way," he told her.

"Too bad." Maggie sighed leaning her head against the window.

"What's too bad?"

"I guess you're no frog prince or anything like that since a kiss didn't break the spell," Maggie replied drowsily.

"No, it's a bit more complicated than that," William said.

When they got back to the cave William started to pull Maggie out of the truck, "I can walk, you don't have to carry me," she said drowsily.

"I'm sure you can, it's whether or not you can keep your eyes open that I'm worried about," William replied.

"Hmm okay maybe your right," she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dozed off again.

  



	16. Chapter 16

The next morning Maggie woke up to find William had one of his wings spread out over her again. This time she didn't try to shove it away, she just looked over at him. Unlike most things that would look peaceful and unthreatening when asleep he looked almost as terrifying when he slept as he did when he was awake. The only thing that made him look any less threatening was the fact that his mouth was shut so she couldn't see his horribly sharp teeth.

She lay there, letting her self really look at him for the first time without being afraid. For the first time she noticed the spines that curled around from the back of his head that looked like they were just ridges, but she had read somewhere that they opened up into a frill around his head. His rough bumpy skin stretched over his muscular and impossibly strong arms, arms that had probably carried hundreds if not thousands of innocent people to their deaths, but the day before had held and comforted her and along with his wings wrapped around her had made her feel safer than she had ever felt before which completely confused her. She was still afraid of him sometimes, but she also felt safe with him and after the night before she was sure he would never hurt her, still she couldn't look at him without feeling a little fear.

William suddenly took a deep breath, the third nostril on the top of his nose flaring then said, "You certainly seem to be a confusing bundle of emotions today."

"Stop that, it’s like you can read my mind," Maggie said.

"I'm not that good, I can sense your emotions but I can't tell what's causing them, although I would assume I'm responsible for the fear," he said.

"You're responsible for all of it," Maggie replied.

"I don't see how I could be responsible for making you feel afraid and safe at the same time," William said.

"Like you said it's completely confusing," Maggie replied.

"You're saying you feel safe with me even though you're afraid of me?" William asked propping his elbow on the bed and his head on his hand as he looked at her.

"Yes, you saved my life yesterday, I cut off your wings and you're completely understanding about it. I know you would never hurt me and will keep me safe, so I feel safe when I'm with you. I also know what you've done to other people. No matter how many times I tell myself it was because of the curse I still can't help thinking about it and being a little afraid of you, not to mention you did a wonderful job of making yourself look terrifying," Maggie told him.

"Maybe you'll get use to my appearance once you've been around me for a while longer," William told her.

"Did the other women you've taken each time you wake up get use to it?" Maggie asked.

William suddenly sat up and asked, "How do you know I take one each time I'm awake?"

"I- Well, this is going to sound crazy," Maggie said as she sat up.

"Maggie I'm a dragon who was cursed by a witch over two hundred years ago and can't die no matter how badly I'm hurt or torn apart. What exactly do you think would sound crazy to me?" William asked.

Maggie couldn't help smiling, "Okay fine, I guess he did say you could hear them too sometimes," she said hesitating a little as she remembered what Darry had told her.

William's eyes widened and had he been human Maggie was sure his face would have been white. "Who and how?" he asked sounding shocked.

"Two nights ago, I don't know if it was a dream or something else, but I saw this young man, I was scared and considering trying to run away when you dropped me off at school yesterday. He told me not to, he told me you really wouldn't hurt me, that he had been told that you take a woman each time you wake up and then let them go at the end of the twenty three days," Maggie explained.

"So, those I've killed can communicate with the women I take, I've wondered if it was possible before when women have known things I had never told them, but none of them would ever tell me the truth. They would refuse to tell me or make up stories, but I could always tell that they were lying to me. Do you know who he was?" William asked.

"He said his name was Darry, I found some newspaper articles about him from twenty three years ago," Maggie told him.

"Darry Jenner?" William asked.

"Yes," Maggie replied.

"He was one of the hardest people to take, I ended up going after him and his sister. With people who are related sometimes it's harder to tell which one to take, but the hardest thing was when I had finally decided to take Darry, his sister begged me to take her instead and he was just as determined that I wouldn't take his sister. It was so hard because I knew what they were feeling, being willing to die to save their sibling, the same thing I had felt when I attacked that bear to save my sister. It's something I've only sensed in a few humans and it always makes it harder. For a moment I thought about trying to give them a chance to run, but I knew they would never have time to get far enough away to escape before the curse fully took over me. Once I've chosen a victim it's almost impossible for me to do anything else until I've killed them. I finally decided it would be better to just get it over with, I hated killing him, I was after his eyes and he didn't die until I had cut off part of his skull and took out his brain to get to his eyes, it was one of the times I really wished the curse took over enough that I couldn't remember what I had done," William told her.

"How do you keep going, how can you survive like this?" Maggie asked.

"The only reason I do is because I can't die, I've tried to kill myself, I've let other people try to kill me, but it never works. I keep going because I have no choice," William told her.

"But you seem to enjoy scaring people before you kill them. Jen said you were harassing people on that bus last night," Maggie said.

"I hate having to kill some of the innocent people, but the truth is I still hate humans for what they did to my family, sometimes I do enjoy hunting them and scaring them, but I hate having to kill most of them. Although every once in a while I get one like Brad and truly enjoy making them suffer. But having to eat parts of them is something I'll never get used to. There are only a few times the curse hasn't had to take over to force me to eat and that's only because I was severely injured or I was able to use it to terrify my next victim," he told her.

"It's been over two hundred years since your family was murdered and you're still terrorizing people when you don't have to because of what happened back then?" Maggie asked.

"Over two hundred years may have passed for the rest of the world, for me it hasn't even been eight months since they were killed. The memories of their bodies hanging from the walls of buildings or tied up to sign posts and my grandfather's body are all fresh and clear in my memory," William said.

"I'm sorry I didn't think about the fact that you've been asleep through most of that time," Maggie said.

"It's alright; I don't think most people would think about how differently time passes for me," William replied.

Maggie started to ask something then hesitated not wanting to upset him.

"Whatever you want to ask just ask it, you know I won’t hurt you," William told her.

"I was more worried about hurting or upsetting you," Maggie replied.

"The worst I can do is refuse to answer you, what were you going to ask?"

"You mentioned you grandfather's body, you never told me you had found it," Maggie said.

"I had already killed the twenty three people I knew had killed my family and was trying to find a place to hide from some people who were chasing me. I snuck into the church basement and waited until the people were gone. I was about to leave when I looked up at the wall and saw my grandfather’s body tied to the wall, his chest and stomach looked like it had been cut open and then sewn back together. I later found out a scientist had come through town the day my family was killed and after my grandfather changed his appearance, the scientist was allowed to dissect him and then they sewed him back together, preserved his body and hung him on the wall like a trophy," William told her.

“That’s why you had all those bodies on the walls when they were found twenty three years ago. It’s more revenge, you did to them what had been done to your family.” Maggie half asked.

"Yes and it gave me something to do when I wasn't hunting or making weapons, plus it keeps the bodies from decomposing and stinking," William replied.

"Not to mention it scares the heck out of people," Maggie added.

"That too," William said with a slight smile then flinched.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked.

"I'm fine, I just need to eat," He replied.

Maggie fought back a shudder, "Gag them or something before you bring them in, it's Saturday, I am not getting out of bed anytime soon and I don't want to wake up to people screaming," she said then flopped back onto her pillow pulling the covers back over her.

"Okay," he said as he left.


	17. Chapter 17

Sometime later Maggie woke up to a sound not much better than screaming people; she could hear the crunching and snapping of bones coming from the other room. Deciding she needed something to drown out the sound she made a quick dash from the bed room to the library. She tried not to think about what was going on, but morbid curiosity won out and she glanced over where William was. She was behind him, but could see him slowly pulling out the man on the table’s intestines as the poor man watched in horror, his screams muffled by a thick piece of cloth that was tied around his mouth. William then turned to face the man, stretching out his small intestine and beginning to do what looked like cat’s cradle with it. Forcing her attention away from the gruesome sight she continued on her way, she wasn’t sure which was more disturbing, what he was doing or the amused look on his face. Once she was in the library she turned on some music and once she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up from what she had just witnessed she’d decided to start working on her report.

An hour latter William came in and stopped, looking at the piles of papers she had spread out. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Maggie turned the music off, “Homework.” Maggie replied from where she sat on a large rug with her laptop in front of her and different newspaper articles and copies of eye witness accounts spread out around her.

"Well you certainly know more about me than anyone else ever has," William said.

"You don't mind if I use some of the information you've told me do you?" Maggie asked.

"No, as long as you don't mention where I hide, people might as well know the truth, it won't change anything," William replied.

"At least people will know you're not evil and you don't want to kill people," Maggie said.

"I don't want to kill most of the people I do, every once in a while I truly enjoy it, I had no problem torturing and killing that man who attacked you, it was one of the times the curse didn't have to take over to make me torture someone," William told her.

“What about the man who’s intestines you were just playing with? You looked like you were enjoy that.” Maggie asked.

“He molested his daughter,” William replied.

"Oh, well then he deserved it. At least people will know you don't want to kill innocent people," Maggie said.

"If they believe what you write," William replied.

"If they don't believe it Jen will be able to back me up when she gets back, or I could just drive your truck to school when I turn in the report, everyone who's heard about you has heard about that truck thanks to the stuff Darry's sister wrote," Maggie replied.

"As long as you don't end up with the police towing it away once they realize it's mine," William said.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have any problem breaking in somewhere to get it back," Maggie replied.

"True," William said, "Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"You don't mind me asking a ton of questions?" Maggie asked.

"Not at all," William replied as he sat down a few feet from her.


	18. Chapter 18

Over the next week and a half Maggie and William spent all of their spare time together talking and working on her report until she seemed to have written his full life story, from some of his memories of helping his mother in the garden and his father teaching him to hunt and then him teaching his younger brothers how to hunt, learning wood and metal working from both of his grandfathers. Learning to tan hides from his great grandmother who had been Native American, but after his great grandfather had died she had changed her human form to look like the white settlers so she could live with her children in the village. William would spend hours with her listening to her stories and learning things from her. He told her stories his grandparents had told him about when they or their parents or grandparents had come to America from Ireland, Scotland and England fleeing and hoping to find a place where no one would suspect that they were really dragons. Stories about how his father's parents had met and how afraid his grandmother had been that his grandfather wouldn't want to marry her after he found out she was really a dragon. After finding out he had told her he didn't care what she was as long as he could be with her.

He told her about teaching his sister how to hunt, even though it wasn't something women would normally have done back then, she had begged until he finally agreed and from the time his sister was fourteen until she got married when she was eighteen she would sneak off to go hunting with him and even after she was married and had had her daughter, she would leave her daughter with their mother and they would go hunting, although no one else ever knew what she was doing. He told her about different things he would do with each of his siblings and how his family celebrated holidays, the plans he had had for his grandfather's farm that his grandfather had said he would leave to him when he died. He also told her about some of the hardest and easiest people he had had to kill because of the curse, he told her about heading to battle fields while he was awake during the Civil War so he could eat people who were already dying on the battle field instead of healthy uninjured ones.

By the time Maggie's report was due she had enough information to write a book and had to cut a lot of the stories out of it to get it short enough to turn in. They left early that morning and stopped by her house so she could print the report then William dropped her off at school.

As Maggie walked into the class room she walked over to Mr. Kocher, "Do you want the long or the short version?" she asked holding up the inch thick full report and the much smaller one that was as long as the rules for the assignment allowed.

"You found that much information about the creeper?" Mr. Kocher asked in shocked disbelief.

"Yes, I found some sources in the basement of that church that no one has ever had access to before," Maggie replied.

"Well I would love to see the information you found and to read the longer report sometime, but I'll have to take the shorter one for the assignment, I'll be passing out the grades in two days," he told her as he took the report from her.

"I can bring some of the stuff I found in the basement with me tomorrow if you want," Maggie offered.

"That would be great," Mr. Kocher replied.

\----

"So how'd it go?" William asked when he came to pick Maggie up.

"I won't know for two days," Maggie replied.

That evening Maggie was sitting, drumming her fingers on the desk and staring at her laptop screen when William walked in to the library, "You look board to death," he said.

"That's because I am, I've spent every moment possible over the last two weeks working on that assignment and now that I'm done with it, I've realized there's nothing to do around here," Maggie replied.

"That's not true there's plenty to do," William told her.

"Like what?" Maggie asked.

"I have a whole pile of wood and bone that would be good for carving," William suggested.

"There is no way I can start carving up human bones," Maggie replied.

"I have bones from other animals, not just humans; I could teach you how to work with it or the wood," William told her.

"Okay," Maggie replied as she got up and William showed her to a closet filled with pieces of varying sizes of wood along with a pile of clean bones.

William spent the rest of the evening and the next evening teaching Maggie how to carve the wood and bones.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

On the morning Maggie would get the grade on her report William was sitting at a table carving the handle of a knife, "Are you planning on taking me to school or just sitting there carving that all morning?" Maggie asked when he seemed to have no intention of stopping.

"I was just going to stay here," he replied as he pulled the keys for the truck out of his coat that was sitting on a chair next to him and handed them to Maggie.

"You're letting me take the truck?" Maggie asked in disbelief.

"You need proof that you didn't make that report up, so you don't get a bad grade, don't you?" he asked.

Maggie smiled then her smile disappeared and she asked, "You didn't leave any bodies in there did you?"

"No, I even cleaned it out after I got back last night," William told her.

"Excellent, I'll see you tonight then," Maggie said as she headed out.

  


\---

  


Once everyone was seated Mr. Kocher said, "Everyone did well with their reports, some of you did more research than others, but I must say I am rather disappointed with this one," he said as he held up Maggie's report then started reading it to the class.

Once he had finished he said, "These reports are supposed to be based on facts, legends or whatever information could be found about the subject. This would be a wonderful paper for a creative writing course, but taking information from a tragic event that took place over two hundred years ago that from what I read in the original newspaper articles has nothing to do with the Creeper and making up a way to connect them does not follow the rules of the assignment."

Maggie stood up and said, "I didn't make any of that up, it's all the truth."

"You actually expect me to believe the Creeper is really a dragon who was cursed by a witch and doesn't really want to kill people and that you saved Jen from the monster?" Mr. Kocher asked as a few of the other students started to snicker.

"I don't expect you to believe anything you don't want to, but every word of that report is true," Maggie told him.

"And who told you all that, the Creeper?" one guy shouted.

"As a matter of fact he did," Maggie replied.

"So that means you're the woman he decided to take this time, but he's decided to let you go during the day so you can keep up on you school work?" a woman asked.

"Yes," Maggie replied calmly.

"She's gone totally nuts." another young man said.

"That's enough!" Mr. Kocher said, "Maggie, I know you've been through a lot, having your partner and best friend killed by this monster, but it's no reason to lie to us," he told her.

"He didn't kill Jen, she's in Hawaii with her aunt and I'm not lying to you, if you don't believe me come-" she was cut off as a loud siren went off and a voice came over the speakers telling everyone to head to the cafeteria because the Creeper's truck had been spotted in the parking lot.

Everyone started jumping up and running for the door as the teacher tried to calm them down and get them out without trampling each other.

"Calm down!" Maggie screamed successfully stopping them all, "As I was about to say the Creeper let me borrow his truck just in case anyone didn't think my report was true, he's not here and you're perfectly safe," Maggie told them.

"Yeah right, you're just crazy," one student shouted.

"Alright, if you don't believe me look out that window, you should be able to see it, I have the keys to it right here," she said holding them up.

"Sure and I have the keys to a limo," one girl said.

"I'll prove it to you, I'll go pull it up to the front of the school and you can all come out and look at it," Maggie said.

"Maggie I can't let you go out there," Mr. Kocher told her.

"I'll be just fine, I have to prove that report is true somehow, I'm not going to get a bad grade just because you don't believe me," Maggie replied.

"Why would the Creeper give you the keys to his truck?" a guy asked.

"Because he knew no one would believe what I wrote and we thought the truck would be enough proof, anyways the only other option was to bring him here and then half the people here could have ended up dead, so we thought the truck would be safer," Maggie told them then headed out to the truck.

About five minutes after she had pulled the truck up in front of the school Mr. Kocher slowly came out the front door.

"See I told you I had the keys to his truck and that report is all true," Maggie told him.

"You're serious, everything in that report is true and you've been living with the creeper," one girl asked as she stepped out to look at the truck.

"Yes," Maggie replied.

As the rest of the students came out and started looking at the truck one said, "You expect us to believe this is the Creeper's truck? It could just be some old truck you did up to look like it."

Maggie, who was still sitting in the driver's seat, pushed the horn which made everyone scream or quickly back away several feet, "How many trucks have you heard with a horn like that?" Maggie asked.

"And how many people have heard the Creeper's horn and lived?" he replied sarcastically.

"I have," a woman said shaking like a leaf, "I was on the bus when Brad and Jen were taken, and that is definitely the same horn."

Suddenly sirens could be heard in the distance and getting closer, "I should get going, I don't think William would be too happy about having to try to get his truck back from the police. I think I'll start my spring break a few hours early," Maggie said then pulled out.


	20. Chapter 20

When Maggie walked back into the cave William was at the desk working on carving something that he quickly hid, "What are you doing back so early?" he asked.

"Keeping your truck away from the police, the whole school panicked when someone recognized your truck, but I think my teacher believed my report was true before I left," Maggie explained as she walked over and handed him the keys, "So what are you working on?"

"Something," William replied.

"What kind of something?" Maggie asked as she tried to see what he was hiding under his hands.

"You'll see when it's finished," he told her as he suddenly brought his wing up to block her view and snuck whatever he had been working on into the top desk drawer then locked it.

"That is so not fair using your wing like that," Maggie said as she tried to peak over his wing.

"I thought you liked my wings," William replied then suddenly moved his wing around behind Maggie, wrapping it around her, knocking her off balance so she ended up falling backwards and he caught her with his wing.

Maggie sat there for a moment with William's wing curled around her like some type of cross between a chair and a hammock, with her feet hanging about a foot past the bottom of his wing and a few inches from the ground and the rest of her body completely supported by his wing, "Well they are impressive and apparently they make a good hammock," she said leaning her head back against his wing. "The question is how long can you keep this up before your wing gives out?"

"Probably longer than you can stand being this close to me." William replied.

"We'll see about that," Maggie said crossing her arms stubbornly as she realized she was no longer uncomfortable around him, even when he smiled at her she no longer felt nervous when she saw his long sharp teeth.

"I guess we will," William replied.

For the next couple of hours they sat like that, just talking until William flinched slightly.

"I guess you lose," Maggie said.

"What do you mean? My wing hasn't given out yet."

"I saw you flinch, either that means your wing is cramping up from not moving or you need to eat, either way you'll end up being the first one to give up, which means I win," Maggie said grinning at him.

"That's not fair, I can't control the curse, I have to eat," William said.

"Life isn't fair,” Maggie countered, a hint of sympathy edging into her voice as she said, “you know that better than most people."

"Well I demand a rematch," William told her.

"Anytime," Maggie replied grinning as William reluctantly lowered his wing and tipped it up so Maggie could stand up.


	21. Chapter 21

The next day Maggie woke up early, quietly got the keys out of William's coat pocket and snuck outside. Something she had been doing for the last several days as the weather got warmer and she couldn't stand being cooped up in the cave all day.

The entrance to the cave was hidden in the middle of a large forested area with an area cleared under a canopy of trees for the truck to be kept and an over grown driveway, but otherwise it looked as if the forest had never been touched by man. Maggie loved walking around in the morning, with fog rolling over the ground and shafts of the early morning sunlight shining through the trees to illuminate the fog, the whole place felt magical.

Heading in a new direction she walked for a while until she came to a clearing that was surrounded by a wrought iron fence lined with weeds and vines. As she walked around to the gate she realized it was an old cemetery, inside of the fence some of the weeds had been pulled, the tombstones cleared and fresh flowers placed at each one as well as tulips, irises, day lilies and other flowers that would come back each year and what looked like rose bushes that had grown over the fence all the way around it. Maggie knew instantly that this must be the family cemetery where William had buried his family. He had told her that he had buried them all by himself on his grandfather's land, in the family cemetery where his great grandparents and an aunt who had died in childbirth along with her son had been buried. After counting the tombstones Maggie found all twenty seven tombstones along with a few broken ones leaned up against the fence that looked like William had replaced them with new ones.

"So you've found my family."

Maggie jumped and spun around, "Don't sneak up on me like that," Maggie said smacking him on the shoulder.

"But it's so much fun to see how close I can get without you noticing," William said smiling.

"I hope you don't mind me sneaking out here, I just couldn't stand being in the cave all day," Maggie said.

"If I minded I would have stopped you the first time you snuck out," William told her.

"You knew?" Maggie asked a little surprised that he had never said anything.

"Of course I did, you can't get away from me that easily, I just made sure I got back before you so you wouldn't know I had been awake before you got back. I was just waiting for the perfect chance to scare you," William said.

"You really are evil sometimes and apparently a very good gardener too," Maggie said looking back at the cemetery.

"I only wish I could see it in the summer when the roses bloom; they were my mother's favorite. All but the two by my great grandparent's graves came from my mother's garden. I transplanted them here after my family was killed and I guess they've done well, I just wish I could see them," William said sadly.

"Maybe you will, there's still five days for me to figure out how to break that curse," Maggie pointed out.

"It's not something you can figure out, but I truly hope that you will be the one to break it," William told her, "Now come with me, there's something I want to show you," he said leading her down an almost completely over grown path.

After a while the forest changed from huge ancient looking trees to ones that were still large but in comparison seemed to be smaller. Several minutes later they came to a big old house, the windows had been boarded up and the roof looked like it had several alternating layers of tarps and sheets of metal over it.

"Is this your grandfather's house?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, I've done everything I can to protect it, but being abandoned for twenty three years at a time has taken it's toll on it," he told her as he led her onto the large porch and then inside where furniture sat covered with sheets and tarps.

"I moved all the paintings and family heirlooms into the cave where they would be safe, unfortunately I didn't have room for all of the furniture. Every piece of furniture in this house as well as all the wood work was made by my grandfather. I always worry someone will find the house and take everything my grandfather made or that something will happen to the house and the furniture will be damaged. I make as many repairs as possible when I'm awake, but I always worry that I've missed something and will wake up to find the roof leaked and the furniture has been damaged," he hesitated a moment then turned to look at Maggie, "Maggie, if the curse isn't broken will you keep an eye on the house for the next twenty three years or at least as long as you live in the area? If you ever need to make repairs you can use the money in the cave, what you took to help your friend was only a small amount of what I've saved over the years, so it would never cost you anything," William said.

"If, you're not here to take care of it yourself, I will," Maggie replied then asked, "Is this something you ask all the women you've taken to do?"

"No, you're the only one I've trusted enough, none of the others ever knew about the house or the cemetery, more than half of them didn't even know about the curse because they wouldn't even speak to me the whole time they were with me," William told her.

"If they wouldn't even speak to you why didn't you just find someone else?" Maggie asked.

"I can only take one woman each time I'm awake, once I've chosen one I can't change my mind and it‘s not like sniffing out people to kill. There’s no way of knowing if one woman might be more likely than another to be able to break the curse. I usually just catch the first one I see after waking up," William explained.

Once he had finished showing her the house they headed back to the cave.


End file.
